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Training for the Digitization of Radio Mauritanie's Audio Archives

Year when project approved:

2007

Although Radio Mauritanie's sound archives constitute a precious source of information, access to them is limited on account of their deplorable state, which renders their exploitation difficult, and in some cases, even impossible. Fully aware of the importance and urgency of preserving its archives, Radio Mauritanie has already completed the digitization of 50 magnetic tapes. These tapes were selected for their poor physical state and the frequency of their use. In terms of digitization equipment, Radio Mauritanie already possesses tape recorders, a Dalet platform and digital audio workstations equipped with CD-ROM recorders. To be able to guarantee the long-term preservation of the entire stock of archives in a form which is compatible with the station's digital audio production equipment, it is important to continuer the process of transferring the sound archives to new digital media. This process should be conducted according to a general sound-archive safeguard plan once a complete inventory of the audio recordings has been completed. To ensure the success of the project, Radio Mauritanie would need to engage the services of an international expert to conduct an assessment of the current situation. Once the archive safeguard plan has been established, Radio Mauritanie personnel would then need to be trained in audio archiving techniques and in the use of relevant IT tools. Given that the future of the archives is intimately linked to the access to and use of the services provided, the station envisages the establishment of small digitization unit and the creation of a database to ensure the continuity of the archiving process and to enable consultation of the archives.

UNESCO Field Office:

Project region:

The evaluation mission to draft a sound-archive safeguard plan was successfully carried out on 24-30 September 2007. Memnon (an archiving services company with HQ in Brussels) is currently evaluating the data collected in order to establish the sound-archive safeguard plan. The training session in Mauritania was carried out on 21-23 October 2007. Preparation for the training in Belgium, planned for 17 to 21 December 2007, is also well underway. The different phases of the project are taking place according to schedule and both the partner institution (Radio Mauritanie) and Memnon , who is contracted for the drafting of the sound-archive safeguard plan and the training, are satisfied with the progress made on the project. Radio Mauritania provided the meeting places for the training and identified the trainees for the 2 training sessions on time. The UNESCO Office in Rabat provided the necessary logistical support in the preparation of the planned missions and follow-up action to be carried out.